ASSESSMENTS

Venezuela's Controversial Ship Seizures

Oct 25, 2013 | 10:18 GMT

A Venezuelan sailor looks through binoculars on the deck of a ship.

(JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images)

Summary

Venezuela has rekindled an old territorial dispute in the waters of the Caribbean, where it has seized three foreign ships in the past two weeks. Though Venezuela is unlikely to acquire the Guyanese territory it has long claimed along with the area's mineral wealth, the dispute still offers Caracas ample political opportunities to draw attention away from political uncertainty at home.

Caracas' moves worsen a territorial dispute in the oil- and natural gas-rich waters off the northern coast of South America. ...

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